ICE wants to sell Oakwood, Georgia warehouses purchased to be immigrant detention facilities

A plan by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to open a new detention facility in the small Georgia city of Oakwood may be going back to the drawing board.

In a letter sent to the city of Flowery Branch last week, Department of Homeland Security officials said they are proposing to sell their property on the 3600 block of Atlanta Highway.

As part of the letter, the federal agency said it "is proposing to sell its excess property," and invites Oakwood and Flowery Branch officials, federally recognized tribes, and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office for any comments on the sale.

DHS bought a 540,408-square-foot warehouse in Oakwood for $68.2 million in 2025, a deed shows. Oakwood officials first learned in February that the federal agency was considering converting the warehouses into an ICE detention facility. 

In documents obtained by CBS News Atlanta, Oakwood was to be designated a "processing site," where detainees would stay for some time between three and seven days. The facility was expected to house an average daily population of 1,000 to 1,500 detainees.

City officials have said they never received formal notice that the facility was approved, and pushed back on the plans due to the apparent lack of communication.

In April, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin put a pause on the $38-billion plan. Since then, the federal government has said that some of the warehouses would be sold. Still, the letter was the first time that Oakwood officials say they learned that the warehouse in their city limits would go up for sale.

In an email to CBS News Atlanta, Oakwood City Manager B.R. White said the letter was sent to Flowery Branch. While the warehouses are within Oakwood's city limits, their addresses show them in the neighboring city, he said. On Tuesday morning, White said he received a revised letter announcing the plan to sell.

"This letter is the first contact that DHS/ICE has made with the City of Oakwood," White said.